The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network (Regional)

The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network comprises national child rights coalitions from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Madagascar, Burundi, Sudan, Somaliland, and South Sudan. 🇺🇬🇸🇩🇷🇼🇧🇮🇹🇿🇸🇸🇰🇪🇲🇬 For a brief profile of our national members, click the link 🔗: https://lnkd.in/daNpWC8P

Our Executive Director moderating on Child Rights Advocacy in the EAC🇺🇬🇷🇼🇧🇮🇹🇿🇰🇪🇸🇸 integration process at the 2nd Annual EAC CSO Summit at Mt. Meru Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. He emphasized the importance of investing in children in the EAC integration. The session panelists included the presentations by EACRN Partners who included the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, The African Population and Health Research Center and The Data for Governance Alliance - University of Nairobi Benedict Omillo

Today is the Day of the African Child. Introduced in 1991 by the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union), it commemorates the 1976 Soweto Uprising, celebrates African children and highlights the challenges children face across the continent. This article provides a brief overview of the day and profiles the work of 22 African NGOs focussing on children’s issues. #DAC2024 #YearOfEducation #AfricanNGOs African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) The AfriChild Centre Children's Dignity Forum (CDF) Concern for the Girl Child C-Sema Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Raising Teenagers Uganda: Joy for Children Uganda Gufasha Girls Foundation Fundi Bots Molo Songololo The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network (Regional) Reach For A Dream Foundation Tanzania ECD Network CVT Rwanda CHIDDO South Sudan Halley Movement KidsnTeens Resource Centre One Voice Initiative for Women and Children Emancipation (OVIWCE) Shamwari Yemwanasikana Tanzania ECD Network Teddy Bear Foundation

It is our mandate to ensure that we continue to advocate for an inclusive education🧑🎓👩🎓 system in which all #children can enjoy their full right to #education without limitations. #DAC2024 #EducationforAllChildren #TheTimeisNow

An investment in education has long-term advantages. A continued commitment to education must be a top priority for governments, CSOs and other stakeholders because of its capacity to change children's lives, communities, and the entire continent. #DAC2024

The right to education for every child is provided under Article 11 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC ), which require State Parties to make basic education free, Compulsory, and Accessible. In the East Africa Region , Uganda was the first country to implement free primary education dubbed Universal Primary Education ( UPE ) in 1997 , followed by Kenya and Tanzania later on Other countries in the region have since continued to implement the ACRWC requirements on Education👨🏻🎓📚, in their effort to implement the charter.

In the wake of COVID-19, Africa🌍 recorded one of it’s highest cases of teenage pregnancy. East African countries have one of the highest adolescent pregnancy and birth rates in the world. As many as 21% of young girls aged 15–19 give birth.  Adolescent pregnancy poses a significant challenge in the region for girls, especially when it comes to access to education. For decades, pregnant students and adolescent mothers have been forced to drop out of school In recent years, governments in the East Africa Community have put in place re-entry policies that have enabled most teenage mothers to be admitted back to school.  In November 2021, the Tanzanian government announced that girls who had dropped out of school because of pregnancy could return to school immediately. This change allowed girls to re-enroll within two years of giving birth, or, if later than two years, they could enroll at an alternative education center that offers a condensed version of the curriculum. It is important for CSOs to work together with governments to ensure that we put in place clear and effective re-entry guidelines that will guarantee that teenage mothers are readily accommodated back in schools.